State temporarily blocks SC water rate increase as Blue Granite seeks hike
Water customers in some parts of South Carolina have been spared a planned rate increase, at least for now.
On Tuesday, the South Carolina Public Service Commission voted to delay a planned rate increase by the Blue Granite Water Company, which had announced plans to raise customers’ rates starting Sept. 1.
Instead, the commission will schedule oral arguments between the company and the state’s consumer advocate, which opposes the increase, at a later date. Commissioners will then decide if Blue Granite can increase rates after a court-like proceeding.
Formerly called Carolina Water Service, Blue Granite serves 30,000 customers across the state, including dozens of neighborhoods in Richland and Lexington counties, as well as communities in the Upstate of South Carolina, including the Rock Hill area of York County.
Blue Granite had applied for an increase of up to 56% in order to pay for $23 million in infrastructure improvements in recent years. The commission rejected that plan earlier this year and capped increases in water and sewer rates instead.
But this month, Blue Granite announced the average water bill will increase between 18% to 36% depending on a customer’s service area, plus a 35% residential sewer rate increase. That’s compared to a 12% to 23% increase for water and a 24% increase for sewer that commissioners approved back in April.
Blue Granite was moving forward with the increase despite the commission’s ruling because the company is appealing that decision in court. If a court ultimately decides against Blue Granite’s increase, customers will be refunded the increase plus 12%, company spokesman Dave Wilson said.
The state’s consumer advocate questioned the rate hike in a letter to the Public Service Commission, arguing the increase would be an unnecessary strain on households already dealing with the coronavirus and the rise in unemployment. It also said it was “uncertain if Blue Granite is permitted to charge the new rates referenced in its customer notice” after the commission already capped future rate increases this year.
The company previously delayed any rate increases due to the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, Wilson said. Blue Granite will also continue to observe a ban on service cutoffs until the end of the year.
Wilson said Blue Granite has precedent on its side when moving forward with a rate increase while it appeals the commission’s decision.
“On July 15, the PSC approved Blue Granite’s request for a bonded rate approval in line with decades-old state law that allows utilities to put rates into effect while an appeal is pending,” he said. “The company hopes that the commission will move quickly to reaffirm its decision.”
S.C. Sen. John Scott, D-Richland, was one of several local lawmakers who opposed an increase.
“I’ve heard complaints for years about brown water coming out of the wells, and we have tried to talk with them about it,” Scott said. “We’re dodging a bullet on the increase, but long term they need to change out their whole system.”
Those complaints were echoed by consumers in a series of contentious public hearings about the proposed rate increase last year. The company has also been hit with a series of environmental fines, including a $52,000 hit last week for a sewage leak near the Saluda River.
This story was originally published August 18, 2020 at 2:07 PM with the headline "State temporarily blocks SC water rate increase as Blue Granite seeks hike."
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